When all Hope is lost
by WildAngel1014
Summary: When a little girl stumbles into the path of the A-Team, and one member in particular, their lives are forever changed.
1. Chapter 1

_Thanks for reading!_

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing!_

 **When all hope is lost** :

The woman moved slowly through the dark alley, her look apprehensive.

"Stay close to me baby." The woman spoke.

The small child, who had been clinging to her mother, moved even closer.

"Where are we going mommy?" The child asked.

"We are looking for a man who can help us."

Just as the child was about to speak, a man wearing a soiled jacket that smelled strongly of booze, stumbled in front of them.

The woman approached cautiously, shielding the little girl behind her.

"Excuse me sir, I'm supposed to be meeting someone here. His name is Jack Daniels, are you him? Do you know him?"

The drunken man hiccupped and looked at woman and small child.

"I know'em. Foll'er me." He slurred.

He walked several feet before stopping and motioning for the woman to follow him.

She took a steadying breath and followed.

A few minutes later he led her to an old building on the corner of the alley, and motioned for her to go in.

"Wait'ere." He said before stumbling back out the door.

"What do you think BA? Anyone following her?" Hannibal asked as he pulled off the soiled jacket.

"Aint seen nothing man. Looks good to me."

Hannibal nodded and turned towards his second in command.

"Face?"

"No connection to the military either. I'd say we're good to go Hannibal."

"Alright then, let's go give her the good news."

BA and Face exited the van and followed Hannibal inside.

The woman looked startled as three men she had never seen before walked in.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Sutton. You've just found the A-Team." Hannibal said grinning.

The relief on the woman's face was evident.

"Oh thank goodness!"

"I'm Hannibal Smith. The big guy there is BA Baracus and the good looking guy in the suit is Templeton Peck, but we call him Face."

She smiled at each of them and thanked them.

Hannibal smiled sweetly at the little girl before turning his attention back to her mother.

"Now, Mrs. Sutton. Maybe it would be better if we talked in private? Your daughter can wait over there with BA. He loves kids."

"Go ahead Hope, mommy will be right over here." Mrs. Sutton said softly.

BA knelt down so he was level with the little girl.

"Come here princess. I know a game we can play."

Everyone watched as Hope peeked around BA and stared at Face. She cocked her head to one side then darted towards him.

"Hi Face, you wanna play with me?"

Hannibal laughed at the look on his lieutenant's face and shrugged as Face looked at him for help.

BA let out a high giggle as Hope led Face over to the corner of the room.

Hannibal turned his attention back to Mrs. Sutton.

"Now, you told Mr. Lee that you and your husband are being threatened?"

"Yes. My husband, Mark, is in the hospital. He was beaten outside our home."

"Whose the slimeball doing this and what is he after?" Hannibal asked trying to keep his voice down.

"His name is Chris Jenkins and he is a developer who has been buying up a lot of real estate around our home. He wants to buy our land and when we refused he began threatening us."

"Why not just sell to this guy?"

"My husband and I worked so hard to build this home and Hope was born there. We want to raise our daughter in that house Mr. Smith."

"Ain't right Hannibal. I'm gonna wring this guys neck when I see'em." BA growled.

Hannibal nodded and looked over at Face and smiled.

It looked like Face was attempting to play paddicake and was failing miserably.

"Have you called the police about this guy?" BA asked, bringing Hannibal out of his daze.

"Yes, but the chief of police is Chris Jenkins's brother-in-law. They won't help us. Please, you're our only hope."

"Well Mrs. Sutton, it looks like you've just hired the A-Team."


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you so much for reviewing! On to Chapter 2!_

When all Hope is lost

Chapter 2:

Murdock bounced up and down eagerly in his seat in the van.

"C'mon Face, you like kids. After all you did help that little girl Maria get back to her mother in Mexico. Remember her?"

Face sighed and tried his best to ignore the eccentric pilot.

"Well? Don't ya remember her? I sure do." Murdock asked again.

"Yes Murdock, I remember Maria. That was different. And just because I helped her, doesn't mean I like kids. They're…..clingy." He said waving his hand in the air.

Ever since Hope showed her preference to Face at the warehouse, Hannibal and BA had to tell Murdock, who in return had thought it was greatest thing in the world and was tormenting Face on it every chance he got.

Hannibal turned in his seat with an amused expression on his face.

"Well Face, be prepared for that little girl to be more clingy towards you because we're here and she's waiting for us."

Face looked out the window and rolled his eyes as Hope and her mother were waiting in the front yard for them.

As soon as Face slid the door open, Hope came running over and grabbed his pants leg.

"Hi Face! Did ya miss me? I missed you! Wanna see my room? Hey whose that?" She said all at once, and then looked at Murdock.

Face put on a smile and bent down.

"Hi Hope. Of course I missed you, and I would love to see your room. That's Murdock. He's a good friend of mine."

"M' lady" Murdock said taking off his hat and pretending to bow down to royalty.

Hope erupted with giggles and grabbed Face's hand, pulling him into the house.

Mrs. Sutton looked on smiling.

"He doesn't mind does he? Hope can be a handful."

"He loves kids" Hannibal said grinning.

"Well, I'm glad you're here. We got this in the mailbox this morning." She said handing Hannibal a piece of paper.

Hannibal read it aloud.

"You have 24 hours to sell. If you don't, you might want to keep your family close, you never know when it will be the last time you will see them."

BA growled and grabbed the note, crumpling it up and tossed it in the van.

"Don't worry lil' lady. We gonna take care of this." BA said.

"Thank you so much. Please come in and meet my husband."

She led them inside a large house, and into the living room.

"Mark, these are the men I was telling you about. The A-Team."

Hannibal extended his hand to the man, and took an immediate dislike to him, though he didn't voice his concerns.

"Hannibal Smith, that's BA Baracas, that's H.M Murdock and the guy upstairs is Templeton Peck, we call him Face."

Mark nodded and turned towards his wife.

"I'm going to lay down."

She watched him go and turned towards the team.

"I'm sorry about him. He's been like that since he got out of the hospital."

Face came running down the steps, Hope laughing in his arms. When he saw the expression on the team's faces, he stopped in his tracks and immediately put her down and pretended to straighten his suit.

"Mrs. Sutton, I think it's wise if the three of you not leave the house unless at least one of us is with you." Hannibal said, thinking about the note.

"I understand." She said scooping up Hope.

"Can I get you gentleman something to eat? Drink?"

"No thank you. We have some dirt to uncover." Hannibal answered.

She nodded and left the room.

Hannibal motioned for the guys to follow him outside.

"I think Mr. Sutton is hiding something."

"I got that feelin' too man. He actin funny." BA said.

"Why don't you three go into town and see what you can find out about Chris Jenkins. I'll stay here and look after things. "

They nodded and loaded into the van. Hannibal went back inside and into the kitchen, hoping to get more information from Marie Sutton.

"Hi Hannibal!" Hope said smiling.

"Hi sweetheart."

"Where's Face?"

"He went to town with the other guys."

Hope stuck her bottom lip out in a pout and tears filled her eyes.

"Hey it's ok. He'll be back in a little while, I promise."

That cheered her up and she went back to her lunch.

"I'm sorry about that. I don't know what has gotten into her. She usually doesn't take to strangers like that." Marie said.

Hannibal laughed.

"Don't worry, we're used to women of all ages hanging on Face."

Marie laughed and poured Hannibal a cup of coffee.

"Mrs. Sutton, when did all this start?" Hannibal asked.

"Well I guess about 6 weeks ago. Mark came home from work with some bruises and I asked where he got them. He told me he fell, but I didn't believe him. Later our tires were slashed and the windows broken. Hope was playing outside one day when she saw a man on the property. Mark told us to wait here and he would take care of it. I saw them grab him by the arm and twist it. Later I asked him what happened and that's when he told me about Chris Jenkins."

"What exactly did he say about Chris Jenkins?"

"He told me that he was buying up a lot of the land around us and wanted ours. When Mark told him he didn't want to sell they started threatening him."

"I see. Have you heard of Chris Jenkins before this?"

"No, only what Mark has told me."

They were interrupted by the phone ringing. Marie went to answer it then handed it to Hannibal.

"It's Face."

"Thank you." Hannibal said, watching Hope's eyes light up at the mention of his lieutenant.

"Yeah." Hannibal said.

He was quiet a few minutes, with the occasional "uh huh" and "I see."

Hannibal hung up the phone and turned to Marie.

"The guys are on their way back."

Hope jumped out of her chair and ran to the window to watch.

"How old is she?" Hannibal asked.

"4."

A few minutes later Hope began yelling.

"I see them!"

"Thank you Hope." Hannibal said sweetly, before heading outside.

He waited as they climbed out of the van before speaking.

"You're absolutely sure?" Hannibal asked.

"Yeah Hannibal." Face said sadly.

"Ok then. Face, stay with Hope outside, things might get ugly. Mr. Sutton has some explaining to do."


End file.
